When I arrived to the United States in 1997, I became a victim of identity theft because I was unfamiliar with the English language and the American culture. As a result, the person who assumed my identity and social security number, went around pretending to be me and creating debts in my name. By the time I found out what they had done, my career and reputation were already decided by the irresponsibility and maliciousness of an individual that paraded throughout the country with five different identities, two active passports, the social security numbers of dead people that they found online, multiple dummy companies, and various marriages to immigrants that they sponsored and stole the income of, all at the same time.

My experience as a victim of such psychological abuse, online stalking and cyberbullying, and threats to ruin me for crimes I never committed while my identity was being used by an international criminal, made me expert on how to protect myself, my family, and others from predators that manipulate the system and feast on the masses' lack of knowledge on fraud and how to confront it. We live in the 21st century, where identities and personal information are a more powerful source of monetary exchange than money. How many of you out there know who your spouse or best friend is: how many names they use, what information they have about you, and how easily they can manipulate it? How many of you were ever in such a vulnerable position as to trust someone enough to find yourselves sleeping with the enemy?

"If we don't act now to safeguard our privacy, we could all become victims of identity theft."